Friday, May 16, 2008

Day Three, Instruction in starting your own business.

WHAT AM I IN FOR? The Life of an Entrepreneur

Starting a business Takes Time, Do I want to dedicate 60 to 80 hours per week for a business?

Am I a self starter. Well yes and no. I have such great ideas, yet they take me 3 times as long to fulfill them.; Do I usually follow through on what I set out to do? Yes only it takes me 3 times as long as others.; Do I tend to put off things I don't like or want to do? Well duh! Can I get back to you on that?; Do I usually accomplish what I set out to do? Yes again. It takes me 3 times as long.; Am I physically able to work long hours. This one has me concerned. I feel strong, but hey I'm a grandma for goodness sake.; Do I have any health concerns that need to be taken into account? Not yet!

So I need to decide how much time will be spent on my business. They say 60-80 hours. Am I really willing to work that long? I'm not sure. My side of the family is not known for long hours of toil. We are dogged, but not extremely hardy folk. I need to read a book on time management. Recommended: Market Based Management. Gotta order that soon. Hey did I say soon, I meant tomorrow. OK I'll look on Amazon for it tonight. Yikes, the new one is $127.99, some other used ones start at $14.95. Which should I get? Is that managing your money wisely? I can make a penny cry on both sides, now that is managing your money. Maybe I should write a book.

The best advise about running a business is to delegate, delegate, delegate. I can do that. I learned early on when homeschooling my kids that if I wanted them to load the dishwasher I had to teach them how to load it, but I also had to accept how they loaded it. Otherwise I was doing double duty if I rearranged their loading. Also plan, plan, plan. This is where I will need to really do some research. I need to know what are my resources for inventory, how marketable are they, what are my legal options, where to locate, how to hire and fire personnel. So much to find out. At least I am going to know before I put my name on the building.

Starting a Business Requires Balancing Commitments!

The demands of the business need to be balanced with the demands of the family. Now here I am at an advantage. I no longer have children at home, but that doesn't mean I don't have family demands. As my parents and in laws get older I will become more and more responsible. I am the oldest on both sides.

Questions: Starting my own business will benefit my family by ... structuring time for work and time for rest and time for recreation. Starting my own business will change my family life by ... having more worries. I may look cool on the outside but inside I do think on a subject a lot. (That is what I call worrying.) (Actually I love the phrase in the Bible where it states that "Mary pondered all these things in her heart" about Jesus. I really identify with pondering.)

Starting my own business has my family support... Well yes they want ME to do it. Actually if one of my kids or husband tried to interfere with my vision, I would not be a happy camper. When you have a vision, you should just gut it out and make it your own. Besides, none of my family or my husbands family or my kids have any retail ownership history. Oh we have lots of ideas, but my dad says of my family, "All these people and not a wage earner among them." What he really means is we are all so creative, we don't know squat about just getting a job. Yuck. Who wants one of those!

Do I and my family members have the same picture of their involvement in my business? Got to answer I don't know on this one. I know several who have shown interest in a business similar to the one I want, but we never agree on some major issues. Like inventory, or setup or start up money. It all looks different to you when you are young and when you are, lets say "maturely cautious."

"I've looked at clouds from both sides now, from up and down and still somehow, It's clouds illusions I recall. I really don't know clouds at all." Thanks Judy Collins

List three things you will do to balance business and family commitments: